By JESSICA BROWN
Three women from Bluffs are planning a Halloween Costume Parade to take place next week. Molly Brockhouse, along with her mother Ellen Graves and friend Mallory Kauffman will be hosting a Halloween Costume Walk to be held in Muntman Park in Bluffs on October 29th from 6-8pm.
Sign ups begin at 5:30 p.m. in Muntman Park , with the Walk beginning at 6 p.m. Brockhouse is working together with the others to organize the event. She said the walk was discontinued years ago due to a lack of volunteers, but added that it’s her childhood memories that inspired her to reinstate it. She commented that as a child at the event, she and other children would walk among the crowd at Community Park in Bluffs and display their Halloween Costumes on stage in order to win a prize. “It’s one of my favorite Halloween memories as a kid,” Brockhouse said.
After volunteer efforts to help organize the event subsided, she said the walk sadly ended. A few years after the Halloween Walk ended, however, one of the original organizers of the event, Rita Brockway, passed away from cancer. Brockhouse said that was her other motivation for reviving the celebration. “Not only are we bringing the Halloween Walk back to life, we’re hoping to honor her legacy with the Walk,” she said, adding that Rita had loved seeing all the kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes. “We decided it’s a great way to honor her memory,” Brockhouse said.
In its early days, the event was held in Community Park but due to current construction there, the upcoming event will be moved across the street to Muntman Park where participants will register and begin the procession to the Bank of Bluffs. At the bank, participants will circle around the parking lot and head back to Muntman Park where contest winners will be announced, Brockhouse said.
The Bluffs Public Library will host a station Tuesday night providing hot chocolate, cookies and brownies where children will be encouraged to make bookmarks. Door prizes drawings will also take place there, she said. “This is our first year back and we want to start off simple and get our feet wet again,” Brockhouse commented, adding she and the other organizers have already been making plans for the next Halloween Costume Walk.
Starting from scratch in order to reinvent the Walk, she said her and the other organizers were pleasantly surprised by how many local businesses contributed to the cause, as well as the number of volunteers offering to dedicate their time. “We are really lucky to have such a good community,” she said of Bluffs.
Brockhouse said there is no rain date for the event but they are currently searching for a relocation spot in case of inclement weather. No fee is required to enter, but participants are required to wear a Halloween costume. Kids 12 and older can participate on their own, as well as groups and/or families who want to enter the Family/Group portion of the contest. “Don’t forget about our dog lovers,” she said, adding there will be a category in the costume contest for furry friends wearing Halloween costumes.
Brockhouse said the Walk gives the whole community an opportunity to see trick or treaters in costume, even if they aren’t able to hand out candy on Halloween. “It’s going to be a lot of fun, not just for kids but we hope for the whole community,” she said. “We are excited and look forward to seeing everyone on the 29th.”
Bluffs Halloween Costume Walk
-Tuesday, October 29th from 6-8 p.m.
-Sign ups at 5:30 at Muntman park in Bluffs
-Event open to citizens outside of Bluffs
-No fee to enter, must wear a Halloween costume to participate.
-Children over 12 can participate individually but the Walk is open to groups, families and pets (must also wear costume).
-Will include costume parade, costume contest, refreshments and door prizes